AUGUSTA, GEORGIA -- My husband went to the Maaco franchise in Martinez, GA on March 13. Got an estimate and was told "bring the truck on a Saturday and you'll have it the following Saturday". He was impressed with the estimate and we took the truck back on the following Saturday, March 20.

A few FYI facts -
1) The truck was originally dark green with gold on the bottom - he told them to paint it exactly as it was.
2) We live over an hour away from the franchise.
3) Hubby gave his cell phone number because the shop hours were during his working hours and wanted them to be able to reach him if there were questions or problems.

While we were there, we decided to let them find a new hood which was part of the original estimate discussion. When hubby removed the bed liner he found an area of rust/corrosion. Eric, the "manager" told him as a complimentary service, they would brush out the corrosion and just do a cursory spray on the bed since the liner would be replaced - "you don't want that corrosion to go untreated" were Eric's words.

Eric called my husband on Monday, March 22 and told him he found a hood and it would be delivered to them by Wednesday. He then told him it would be ready the following Saturday, March 27.

Friday March 26, my husband called and was told "we've been busy and haven't done any painting except the bottom (which was to be painted gold and cost an extra $150) - the color wasn't right so the painter had to start over. It can be ready early next week - Wednesday at the latest." Hubby wasn't happy but he had some co-workers interested in seeing the job for potential future work. He mentioned this to Eric. Eric told him he was happy for the referrals and would take "extra care to make sure the job was perfect - not that he didn't do that with every job".

The following Tuesday (the day before we were supposed to get the truck back), March 30 my husband called and was told there were some issues with the roof of the truck. Apparently they said there had been previous body work and they were trying to make it perfect. Getting frustrated by now, my husband asked how obvious these "imperfections" were from the ground. "Well, not noticeable" was the answer. He told them just to make it look as good as possible - it is the roof and not many people are going to be hovering over the roof to inspect the paint.

Again, we were told the truck would be ready on Saturday, April 3. Friday, April 2 my husband called to find out what time to be there on Saturday. He was told the truck would not be ready until the following week. By now, he is beyond frustrated. Not only has it taken a week longer than promised, hubby has had to make every phone call himself - no phone calls were made by Maaco to inform us of any issues or delays.

The following week, we planned to go to Maaco on Thursday April 8. Wednesday April 7 my husband got home at 6pm and found a message from Eric on the home answering machine stating that there was a problem found after final paint on the passenger door which was very noticeable and he felt we would regret not having it taken care of. due to the late time we got the message, we could not call back until the following day.

Thursday April 8 - hubby called Eric and told him he was unhappy about having the message left on the home phone because we went out of our way to give the cell number so he could be reached during business hours. Eric told him the labor for fixing the "imperfection" on the door would be $300 but would cut it to $60. We told him to finish the truck. Eric said it would be ready sometime that Friday, April 9. My husband told him we would be there at 9-9:30 am that Saturday April 10 and to have it ready to go when we got there.

Saturday April 10. 9:45 am. We arrived at Maaco. Side note: A coworker of mine was there getting an estimate on a paint job - definitely have to talk to him Monday morning... Eric got to us at 10 (after taking my coworker to the back to show him finished jobs). He told us they were getting the door untaped from the touchup work he called about. We asked to go back and take a look at it. He said "You know what, we have a ton of stuff going on back there. It's not going to be possible to go back there." Mind you this was the same place he had just taken my unsuspecting coworker. At this point my husband was getting exasperated, and voiced his frustration...no he did not raise his voice, nor did he use profanity (for which I was grateful). Eric, the "manager" told him he was not going to have that argument with my husband and told him "you need to simmer down". At this point, my next to the last nerve was being trampled.

Twenty minutes later, the gate opened and one of the painters drove out in my husband's truck. The first thing I noticed was the silver at the bottom...not gold. I immediately walked into the store and asked Eric why the bottom was silver and not gold. He hollered "painter" and went back to what he was doing. Last nerve is now being tested.

I walked out the door with Mr. Painter. The guy who drove the truck out the gate was already out there with my husband disagreeing about the silver/gold issue. As I walked up to the truck, the painter was telling us "that is gold not silver - you need to look closer". At this point the driver said and I quote "I don't know what you're looking at, but you people need to get your eyes checked because what I see is gold". At this point I figured I would need to come up with bail money to release my husband but again he restrained himself. As I turned to walk back into the office, he hollered "I swear on the lives of all my brutha's I served within the corps that it is gold and you don't know what you're looking at". Any self-respecting Marine would have stood up and slapped him for using the honor of the Corps as an excuse to be rude, thuggish and degrading.

I went into the office and told Eric to give me the bill so I could pay it and leave. At this point Mr. Driver came back into the office and proceeded behind the counter to ring us up. He started rudely mouthing off about color-blindness and I held up my hand and told him he needed to stop. He opened his mouth again and I looked him squarely in his eyes and repeated Stop - once. I asked Eric to please ask Mr. Driver to leave the office. He looked at Mr. Driver and told him to calm down and turned back to his computer. I paid the bill (every stinking penny of $1327.00) and told Eric that his first customer service mistake was telling us we needed to simmer down when we were simply expressing our frustration in a very normal, dissatisfied customer, ADULT manner. I then told him that the second mistake was allowing his painter to rudely tell customers they needed to get their eyes checked when we told him the color was wrong.

I am very aware of my rights as a customer who used a credit card to make a purchase. One word - CHARGEBACK. This will put a hold on their request for our money. This will also allow ample time for us to contact their corporate headquarters and give them a very detailed account and let them know that we expect at the very least a refund of the $150 we paid for gold paint. I will post our horror story to every possible media, and alert the local "on your side" consumer reporter if necessary.

By the way - the last straw which I did not notice until I got home...possibly because I need my eyes checked....they never TOUCHED the truck bed, did a poor job taping areas that should not have been painted, and did not correctly re-install the hood and windshield wipers.

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Dishonest - Incompetent

Posted by Robert on 10/04/2012

Rating: 1/51

MENOMONEE FALLS, WISCONSIN -- I am extremely dissatisfied with the service I received at the Menomonee Falls Center M2407. N56W13306 W. Silver Spring Road Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin 53051 Phone:(262)783-5447
On 9/15/12 I delivered a brand-new tailgate to have it painted. The tailgate was still boxed, in fact double boxed. The manager told me that they would have to open the box and inspect the tailgate to ensure that the tailgate matched my 2008 Ford F150. A worker unpacked and inspected the tailgate and said everything was good to go. He offered to take the packaging and throw it out for me at which time I told him only if he is 100% sure the tailgate was okay. He said yes and took the packaging. The manager said I would have the tailgate back in a day or two. I also received a quote to have damage repaired on a 2005 Ford Five Hundred. On 9/17/12 I dropped off this car to have it repaired and painted. On 9/21/12 my wife and I stopped by to pick up the tailgate and car. A worker drove the truck to the rear of the building where he installed the tailgate. When he pulled up to the front of the building, I was shocked to see two large dents in the newly painted tailgate, at which time the worker said, “just don’t touch it with your hand and you won’t notice it”. I told him that was a new tailgate and that I could see the dents from 25 feet away. I went back inside to show the on-duty manager. He came outside, looked at the dented tailgate, shrugged his head, and said, “We will make it right for you”. I left the tailgate with them. A day later I received a call from the manager. His first words to me were, “the tailgate was damaged before we painted it”. For 15 minutes we went back and forth. The bottom line is the tailgate was delivered new, inspected and okayed by his staff, and damaged while in their care. Frustrated I finally told him to call me back when he was ready to make things right. No call from him on Monday, no call from him on Tuesday. Finally I called him at which time he said they were going to repair and paint the tailgate. Well yesterday I picked up the tailgate. Hoping this was the end of this ordeal, I now found that the sides and inside of the tailgate were not painted with the final coat, and that the surface of the tailgate has specs of dirt embedded in the paint. And the dents were still visible. As for my Ford Five Hundred, they left a section inside of the door jamb painted only with primer and did not paint it with the finish coat.
The quality of the work performed on my two vehicles was sub-par to say the least. Not only was I accused of delivering a damaged tailgate, but the whole experience had convinced me not to take either the tailgate or the car back to have them fix what they should have done right the first time. I will never use Maaco again and I will be sure to discourage family and friends to patronize this location as they are completely inept.

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Do Not Use Maaco In Plano, TX

Posted by Lindsay on 03/22/2011

PLANO, TEXAS -- We just picked up our car from the Maaco location in Plano, TX and will NEVER use them again!! 100% HORRIBLE customer service and our car may have permanent damage from their negligence!

Here’s the short of it:
Our car took 5 days longer than expected (including the 2 days we were out a car because we had to take it back to them to fix their errors!), we were mis-led on the price of repairs and when we picked up the car we had to drive it straight to the mechanic due to a foul smell only to be told they left plastic inside the car which had melted and was burning off and they also had sprayed a bunch of parts inside the car including the A/C condenser! Also, the customer service was HORRIBLE, the owner/manager seemed to avoid us like the plague!

Here’s the long of it:
We dropped our 2004 Ford Escape off at Maaco in Plano, TX on the morning of Friday, March 11, 2011. The main thing that we wanted fixed was the hood, which had bad damage done to it. Carlos, the owner, was the person who helped us. He told us that the hood would cost too much to fix and would have to be replaced and that would cost $500. He said he could paint the entire car and fix all the dents for $1,419.45. I asked him if we could get the dashboard repaired for that price also. He said they might be able to do that, but he would have to talk to his interior guy and “would call me if it would be $100-$200 more”. I left thinking that worse case scenario, we would be paying $1,619 for all the repairs. I never received a phone call, so I assumed they were fixing the dash since I was not notified of any additional repair costs. Before we left on Friday, we asked Carlos how long it would take and he said our car would be ready “on Tuesday or Wednesday”.

Fast forward to Wednesday, March 16. We had not heard anything from Maaco yet. My husband woke up extremely early to get to work early so he could leave early to help me pick up the car before Maaco closed at 5:30pm. Before we left to pick it up, he called Maaco and they told him that it wasn’t ready yet. This continued EVERY DAY until it was FINALLY ready on Saturday, March 19 (which is turned out it wasn’t ready even then as we had to bring it back on Sunday, March 20 to have them fix issues).

On Friday, March 18, I had enough of the run around and called and asked to speak to a manager. I was told that the only manager was the owner, Carlos and he was out of town. I asked the girl on the phone if the dashboard repairs were being done, wanting to make sure that Carlos had relayed the message to do that before he left. She said no, that would cost me another $800 if we wanted to fix that! I was very upset and told her so because I would not have painted my entire car if I knew that the dashboard would be $800 to fix alone! I would have had only the hood and dashboard fixed. I asked that a message be given to Carlos that he needed to call me back right away because I was very unhappy. She said she would give him that message. I did not receive a call back from him.
On Saturday, March 19, Maaco called us at 11:17am to tell us that the car was ready. I still had not heard from Carlos so I told the lady on the phone that I wanted him to call me right away, I wanted to speak with him before I came to pick up the car. She neglected to tell me that the shop closed at noon! At 11:45am, I still had not heard from Carlos so I called the shop again and spoke with the same lady on the phone. I told her that I still had not heard from Carlos and I wanted to speak with him right away. I asked her what time they closed and she said noon. I told her we were going to go ahead and come up there to get the car since they were about to close, but to please have Carlos call me ASAP!
On the way to the shop, Carlos called me from his cel phone. I explained to him the reasons I was upset regarding the car taking so long to be ready and for not getting called about the dashboard repairs being so much! He told me that since the dashboard repair was going to cost so much he didn’t both calling me because he figured I wouldn’t want to do it for that much. I explained to him that I would have rather had the dashboard fixed than my whole car painted because that was bothering me more than the dents on the back/sides of the car. I told him that he should do something on the price, it was not fair to charge us full price when they had the car 3 days longer than the told us and didn’t call us with the dashboard estimate. He kept saying he was in the car on spring break with his kids and he would have to “look at it” when he got back into his office on Monday. I told him that I was going to pick up the car right now and would be paying for it when I got there so he needed to call the shop right now and tell them to give us a discount. He just kept telling me that the girl at the shop “was not authorized” to release the car until it was paid in full and I told him that she would be “authorized” if he would give her a call right now and “AUTHORIZE IT”!! He kept feeding me the same line about how there was nothing he could do until Monday to which I replied “BS” (the full word)! He then said since I was “cursing at him” he was going to have to hang up and then he did.

I picked up the car, giving them a $1,200 cashier’s check and paid $219.45 with my credit card, fully intending to dispute the credit card charge if Carlos did not willingly give me the money back.
The whole way home with the car, a foul smell was coming from the engine. My husband and I immediately drove it to a mechanic to have it looked it. Later, the mechanic told us that they had apparently covered some of the inside of the car with plastic and hadn’t taken it off so it was melting inside the car and the smell was it burning off. He also told us they apparently didn’t cover the inside of the car well enough because a bunch of paint had gotten sprayed up inside the car. He was particularly worried about the A/C condenser which was covered in paint and told us that if we didn’t get that paint removed, the A/C was going to stop cooling. He told us to have Maaco put a THIN COAT of paint thinner on all the paint to remove it, he was worried that the paint thinner might also cause problems by corroding some of the parts but that the paint thinner would be better than leaving the paint on there.

After leaving the mechanic, I texted the cel phone that Carlos called me from, telling him what the mechanic said and asked him to call me ASAP. He never called.

On Sunday, March 20, we dropped the car back off at Maaco and I left a note with the key telling them all the things they needed to fix on the car:
• Tape needs to be removed from the fog lights
• There are two holes on the top of the hood where there should be black plastic parts (I’m not sure what they are called), it’s obvious that those holes should have something in them.
• The rubber around each of the doors keeps coming out (weather stripping, gaskets? Not sure what it’s called either) so that needs to be installed correctly so that it doesn’t keep coming off.
• Remove paint from all parts under the hood (as described above) with very thin coat of paint thinner.
• Completely remove all plastic from under the hood so we don’t have further issues with foul odors & burning plastic.
At the end of the letter, I asked Carlos to call me ASAP to discuss and talk about the payment issue. I never heard from him.
It was completely obvious that Carlos had NO interest in making this right with me and clearly was avoiding me like the plague. Every time I called he was unavailable or not there. When we showed up on Monday to pick up the car again, he had already gone for the day. I was very disappointed that he did not make an effort to show he cared about us as customers and make an effort to make us happy. The customer service of this company is absolutely, 100% horrible.

We have used Maaco in Addison, TX a couple of times prior to this and never had an issue. If you want to use Maaco, I would recommend using the Addison location instead of the Plano location.

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MAACO Stockbridge - Incompetence Running Rampant!

Posted by doug8421 on 06/25/2013

Rating: 1/51

STOCKBRIDGE, GEORGIA -- What was supposed to be a 2 week job turned into 2 months +! After hail damage, I scheduled with MAACO to get the repairs done, also fix a couple other items and a full paint job getting it back to dent free with fresh, good quality paint. I selected their $2200 base clear (one step below their best).After walking the whole truck noting every dent and ding from the hail and a couple that were not related to the hail, we scheduled the work. Knowing they would be busy, I scheduled a date 6 weeks out to give them recovery time from the hail storm. I dropped my truck off on the scheduled date and after 2 weeks when calling to inquire about picking it up, they hadn’t even started! Keeping it short, at 4 weeks, I called early Friday morning and was told it should be done that afternoon, it was in the detail shop and that they would call to confirm. I never received a call but drove by just in case after work. The Stockbridge location closes at 5:30.I was there at 5:20 but the lights were out and the doors locked. Calling Saturday morning I was told my truck was still in the paint booth. Confused after being told it should be ready Friday and then being told it was still in the paint booth, I called again Monday morning. I was told that the person answering the phone had my truck confused with another vehicle and it was ready Friday, they just forgot to call. I left work early Monday just to be sure they didn’t lock the doors early on me again. Now here is where it gets worse. On inspection, they had replaced the bumper as requested but painted it primer gray instead of its original metal flake silver. The passenger door was all orange peel and the base coat was so thin on the driver door there were dark patches everywhere. Now the hilarious part, they just painted the 40+ hail dings on the roof and pillars. After a brief discussion, I was told they were going to repaint the truck and bumper. Oh did I mention they took my trailer light adapter off my bumper and were not going to put it back on, much less tell me about it. OK, here we go again, another 2 weeks. Friday pick up again, the inspection revealed they only repainted the driver door and bumper in the 2 weeks. I could have done that on any Saturday morning and still went to the lake in the afternoon. Passenger door still orange peeled, roof and pillar dings still existing, I refused the truck again. Another 2 weeks? You guessed it! Once again 2 weeks go by and back for the inspection. Amazing! They fixed the roof and pillar dings but not the orange peel and leaving the rain rail on the roof sprayed only with base coat. All this time I had not looked real close at the hood they replaced and painted, I guess I was just so disgusted before I got to it.It had the same issues as the driver door, not enough base coat and the black primer was showing through. When denying receipt again, the manager is now getting a bit belligerent with me. I was told she was not going to wet sand orange peel on an $800 paint job or re-spray the hood. And if I wanted to leave it she couldn’t give me another completion date other than it would be a good while. Confusion sets in again, $800 paint job? Getting a bit miffed and to maintain my composure, I decided to leave (without the truck). Monday arrives and I go in to collect my truck only to start whatever legal proceedings I had available. As I arrived and informing the manager I wanted my truck (no I didn’t threaten my intentions), she was apologetic and that she too had confused my truck with another and would take care of the final short comings. Yes you guessed it again, another 2 weeks! Surprisingly, at the end of week one I get a call, the truck is supposedly complete. I picked up my truck on Friday only to find although they had corrected the passenger door, they didn’t touch the hood with the light base coat. 2 months and 5 days riding only my motorcycle, I had to have it back. I will install my bug shield to cover the bleed through, lick my wounds and post this everywhere I can. Oh, and they also ripped the leather loose on my passenger door somehow again without saying a word. My experience - Poor management, Service and Workmanship. Work may be sufficient for a hoopty fender you are looking to sell in the next couple of weeks but if you plan to use your vehicle for a few years, look elsewhere for service.

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Stay Away

Posted by Tori on 11/09/2012

Rating: 1/51

JONESBORO, GEORGIA -- BEWARE of this place!!!!. I've never written a review on anyone ever, but I think people should be warned about this company!. I took my car into the location 8280 tara Blvd, Jonesboro Ga on a Monday, and they promised without a doubt it would be done by Thursday at the latest because it was minor damage that needed repairing. I called Wednesday just to check on the status and was told everything was about done and to check back in a few hours. I called back first thing Thursday morning which then I was told they were finishing up and it wouldn't be ready until Friday. I called first thing Friday which then they said everything was ready but they were waiting to paint it and it should be ready by that afternoon hopefully or if not then Saturday! I then had someone else to call and check and they told them it really won't be ready until Monday. Monday morning we were told they really haven't finished it nor have they reattached the parts. After pushing them they said it should be ready by 4pm. I called at 4pm then was told 4: 30 or 5 but they closed at 5: 30pm. I got there at 5 and the guy had just pulled my car up. Lets remind you I only had minor work done on the QUARTER PANEL!. I reviewed my car to find that my bumper had damage, cracked, and paint missing.

Also my battery was dead, which they blamed on the weather, and had to jump it off!. He made every excuse then was mad that we were asking questions about the vehicle and stated he was closing and ready to go home, not ready to offer any solutions! As I reiterated that I've been calling for days to retrieve my vehicle now he want to act as if I was inconveniencing him, not to mention I myself took off work to go pick up vehicle!

I'm very unhappy with this company and still in the process of trying to get my bumper fixed from damage that derived in their possession....also after getting my vehicle back I realize that something that was left in the vehicle is now missing

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Disappointed and ripped off!

Posted by David on 10/14/2012

Rating: 1/51

KILLEEN, TEXAS -- I requested a Platinum Paint service for my 2006 Jet Black BMW 325i from Maaco of Killeen Texas in June 2012. The platinum service is supposed to have the car looking like it has a showroom finish from the factory. I dropped my car off on a Saturday with it being promised to be finished in 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, I stopped in to see what was the hold up and they told me the entire car had to be redone because the paint they used was contaminated. I understood that things can happen so when they finally finished it was almost a month. I was out of pocket $200 because the rental car was only paid by the insurance company for 10 days. When I went to pick up the car, it wasn't completed because the rocker panels and other areas still had that orange peel or rough look. So they said to bring it back in six weeks to have those areas buffed. I took the car back after six weeks and they called me back the same day to pick it up. All looked OK but the next day I noticed some white residue on the rocker panels. I returned and they buffed those areas again while I waited. The next day, the residue was again visible. I called to tell them it was back so they said bring it back in a week. I took the car back yet again to have the rocker panels rebuffed along with other areas on the hood and around the car that began to show discoloration and a dull mirror like finish all over. This time they kept the car for 2 days. When I returned to pick it up, I noticed the rocker panels still had the same problem with the white residue. The said they would have to respray those areas but that was it for me. After contacting the corporate office they said I couldn't get a refund and wanted me take the car back to the shop so they could fix the problems. After four times and the same problem, no way I was going back. I will have to pursue this case in court for a refund. Not to mention, they tore the interior on all four of my doors when they went in to remove the outside door handles to paint under them. They broke the passenger side latch and it no longer retracts. I am totally disappointed with the service provided and do not recommend this business to anyone.

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Rather Miserable Experience

Posted by CheckNate22 on 12/15/2009

HAYWARD -- I don't have much time, so I'll attempt to make a short story out of what was a long and frustrating experience.

I have a 1996 Buick Regal 2 door coupe. I've had it for about 2 years now and decided it was time to sell it and move on. Problem was, I bought the car with large paint chips mission on both the hood, driver door, and rear panel. If you've sold cars before, you know something like that can make for a very slow sale. I decided to repaint the car, did a little research, and figured an inexpensive ( $300-500 ) Maaco package would do the trick.

I picked up a friend and we headed down to National Ave. My buddy lives nearby and we planned to walk to his house in the case that I left my car with Maaco that afternoon, and he would then give me a ride home. When we arrived at the shop, a young lady helped us out. She took a look at the car, I told her what I wanted, and I was told "It'll be $229 for the Supreme prep. package and $249 for the Ambassador paint package, so it'll be..like...$600" The supreme prep. package states that the car will be sanded and any chips repaired. I was rather confused by the pricing, but carried on. She said that if I left it with them that evening( Monday ), that it would be ready on Wednesday, Thursday at the latest, which seemed suuuuper quick to me. Anyway, I said thank you and told her I'd be in touch. My friend and I went back to his house, and I decided that instead of talking myself out of it and procrastinating any longer that I was going to drop my car off at Maaco that evening and just get the show on the road, I was motivated to sell my car quickly.

We headED back to Maaco, my friend followed in his car behind me. The manager/owner David was there this time, so I spoke with him. I told him what I wanted, and the young lady that helped me earlier that afternoon blurted out "I told him $600." After a bunch of detailed explanations and instructions for the car, he wrote up a receipt that included a fee of $120 for 'extra sanding', which brought the total to a nice round $600 before tax. I started to get a little anxious, and eventually just left the car with them, and got a ride home from my buddy. Now I dropped the car off about 15 to 20 minutes before closing, that's when we finished negotiations and were physically leaving the shop. When I got home and thought things over, while looking at my receipt, I decided to call Maaco and leave a message, and ask them to postpone work on the car until I could come down and clear a few things up. I figured they would get the message early the next morning, and put the car aside until I could head down there and talk things out. I got a call that morning and was told they had already started working on the car. So... so much for clearing things up first.

After a few calls, I got ahold of David. He explained to me that the charge for extra sanding was for the chips in the paint, which I assumed would be included in the Supreme prep. package. Sigh.. OK. He told me that my car would be ready on Friday. I asked if I should give them a call Friday afternoon. He insisted that there was no need, and that they'd contact me as soon as it was ready. He was polite about the whole thing, so we ended the call peacefully.

Friday rolled around. I woke up. It was raining. Automatically I expected a call from Maaco informing me that they would need more time with the car, due to the moisture and what not. That wouldn't have bothered me, totally understandable, and I would actually appreciate that they would want to keep my car the extra couple days to ensure the job was done right. What bothered me, is that I never received a call/voicemail/anything from them on Friday. A bit aggravated, I decided that I would give them all of Saturday as well, a 2nd chance, if you will. Saturday drags by, no phone call. Sunday they are closed. I called and left a message for them explaining the situation, while emphasizing my concern. Once again, I figured they'd get the message Monday morning, and give me a call right away with some sort of status update. Monday afternoon rolls around, still no phone call. Screw this, I'm going to call them and see what the hell is going on.

I called, and talked to the receptionist. She was a nice lady. I told her the situation, and she seemed rather confused. She put me on hold and went to find out what was going on with my car. A minute later she got back on the phone and told me that my car was ready. I was a little caught off guard. I replied "Oh...I'm really sorry, am I late picking it up? I didn't know." My attempt was in hopes of tricking her into telling me how long the car had been ready for, without sounding aggressive and provoking her into lying to me. She said "Oh no it's OK don't worry, the car has been ready since Friday but don't even worry about it." Wow. So it was ready Friday, and I didn't get a call all weekend, AND didn't even get a call back after I had CALLED THEM to see if my car was ready or not, and having to call AGAIN to finally find out. I didn't get loud with her and was not impolite, I simply told her thank you and that I'd be there shortly to pick up my car.

My friend picked me up and we drove down to Maaco. When I asked for my car, she didn't know where the keys or the receipt were. She showed me the keybox, and asked "Are any of those yours?" None of them were. We waited in the lobby while she went in back to figure things out. A dude came out and asked me what type of car it was and then went around back to look for it. Nobody could find it, not to mention my keys were still missing. David the owner had taken off for the day. They decide my car might be in the storage area they have, which is locked up. After all of this and about 15 minutes of waiting, they finally found my car, and my keys. They take me in back to check my car out. It's still dusty, inside and out. There's overspray ALL over the place. Grille, weatherstripping, tires, panel lights, ANDDD they painted over the trunk lock. I was super frustrated, and although the proper way of handling it would be to leave my car there and wait to speak to David about the flaws in the work they did, I made my mind up that I was taking my car home that night. I needed transportation, and couldn't wait any longer. I took pictures of the flaws with my camera phone and left a note to David listing the errors, and that I intended on returning with the car tomorrow afternoon.

The next day, I head down to Maaco. David is there, he apologizes up and down and ensures me that they will correct their work and that the car would be done the next day by 11 AM. I ask "Are you sure about that? 11 AM seems kind of early, can you meet that deadline?" He insists that they've got it covered.

The next day, 11 AM passed and no phone call. I gave them until 2:30 that afternoon to call me and they never did. I had my buddy pick me up and we headed down to Maaco...again. Like deja vu, we got there and everybody seemed surprised. As if I showed up way too early, or as if they had no idea what car I was talking about. A man eventually came out and explained they needed more time to fix the flaws. Even more frustrated, I manage to politely say "OK. Thank you.", while my friend had to drop me back off at home. Before closing time, they called me and my car was ready. AGAIN, back to Maaco. We got there and the car was dusty inside and out, once again. On top of that, HALF the flaws weren't even fixed!!!! I was absolutely done with that place, I didn't even want the rest of the flaws fixed. S***, I didn't even want my car around them anymore.

Although the staff was overall friendly, they were sloppy, totally unprofessional, and did horrible work.

NOT. RECOMMENDED.

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Terrible paint job, poor customer service and useless warranty

Posted on 09/09/2010

HUMBLE, TEXAS -- In Aug 2008 we took our 2000 Lincoln to the Maaco in Humble, TX, we paid approximately $2000 for their "signature" service with a lifetime warranty, which we were promised if anything happened with the paint it would be repaired under the warranty w/o charge. After about 6 months the paint begin to fade & crack. We took the car back this week and now they want us to back for recondition the entire care and pay 50% for another paint job.

Please don't waste your time dealing with Maaco. It's amazing to me how "friendly and willing" they were to take our money but when we wanted them to repair the shotty work the sales representative was insulting and unwilling to make it right.

I can't believe they would want anyone driving the car around and advertising their workmanship. No integrity at all, just in business to "get over" on people. Karma is a mutha!

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WARNING!!!!

Posted by Mona on 07/06/2012

Rating: 1/51

NEWNAN, GEORGIA -- WARNING!!!!!!!
DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING TO THESE PEOPLE!!! We took out daughters Camaro to be painted and they did NOTHING they told us prior to paint that they would do. There was crazing in her bumper that they assured us they would sand and fill with putty. All they did was spray over the crazing. There were small chips in the original paint that we were told would be sanded, they painted over the chips also. There was a spot on the rear quarter panel that needed attention and we were ASSURED before painting it would be taken care of, it was just painted over. There are about a hundred other things on the car treated the same way, ignored and painted over. Now all of this would be bad enough, but when we questioned them why they didn't do as they said they would, the owner and the person who sprays the cars blew up and became so unstable that I was in fear for our safety. The owner inparticular became enraged and was screaming!! He stated that my daughters car was "junk" and "the best thing about the car was the paint job on it". My jaw was on the floor. I have never in my 44 years EVER been treated like that by a company. I was in SHOCK! My husband simply questioned why certain things were not taken care of as agreed and both of the Maaco workers went ballistic!! I do not have the words to describe how insane and psychotic they were acting. My husband and I told them we would come and get the car the following day because we just wanted to get the hell out of there. We jumped in my car to leave and as we were getting in my car the two Maaco workers (one being the OWNER!) were up on my husbands passenger door still screaming insults at him! I thought for a moment they may try to keep him from closing his door in an effort to keep us from getting away. This was the most surreal experience I have ever had, I am still in shock! I seriously contemplated asking a police officer to accompany us to pick the car up today, but my husband assured me it would be okay. Can you imagine what would have happened if we had sent our 21 year old daughter to get the car and SHE questioned them about the shoddy work?
We got my daughters car home safely and now I must warn others. These people are liars and mentally unstable. DO NOT put yourself or any of your loved ones in their path.

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Abusive store manager, poor quality ambassador-level paint job

Posted by Alfred Ruby on 11/21/2007

PEABODY, MASSACHUSETTS -- What occurred is this: Maaco store #1682, Peabody, Massachusetts offers three or four levels of paint job, with various names like (to the best of my recollection): Emperor, presidential, supreme, Ambassador. I ordered the Ambassador, which is the least expensive, but which is in fact an offered paint job. I understood that it was to be only one layer of paint, without extra protective coatings added. They explain the Ambassador as an all-in-one single coat paint job which has paint and some protective portion mixed in.

I had a subcontractor working for me who was going to be adding extra layers of "clearcoat", so I did not need or want the more expensive levels which would be doing just that. My subcontractor detail person had done the body work and I wasn't holding Maaco store #1682, Peabody, Massachusetts in any way responsible for any of the under-layers or bodywork, I just wanted to have the car painted. My guy had prepped the car, and Maaco store #1682, Peabody, Massachusetts did whatever minor work they had to do in order to paint it.

This we endeavored to do October 5, 2007. In fact the car was painted my desired color silver. There are problems with the paint job however. There is a distinct "mottling"-appearance (basically you can see the air-brush's strokes, like tiger stripes) at various parts of the car in particular at the trunk, but seen at certain places along the sides. There are bunchings-up of the paint at area spots on the car. These appear like "milk mustaches", for instance along the vertical edges of the doors. Their detail work was very poor: they let paint spray into the well under the front hood, near the windshield wipers. Paint sprayed onto other parts that aren't supposed to be painted. They painted the windshield-spray-nozzles. There were paint drippings along the wide horizontal silver logo at the back of the trunk.

Maaco store #1682, Peabody, Massachusetts' behavior thereafter was reprehensible. My detail man brought the car back on the first available business day of the very next week, October 11, 2007. He was treated in for a paint you a a brutal fashion: the manager was staying in his office, and refused to come out and look at the car. He said through a worker, to bring the car back in two weeks to look at it. This store is some 15 miles from my office and it is a bit of a burden to have to bring it in the first place. My detail man called me up on his cell phone to tell me the situation that car could not be looked at. I spoke with the store's manager, and I have never, seriously, had any business person scream and yell at me on the telephone such as he did that day. He said that I was a "cheap (**)!", and he said he couldn't "believe a doctor would ever order such a cheap paint job". I pointed out that it was one that he and Maaco offered. If it is such a bad paint job choice,then perhaps they shouldn't offer it in the first place.

He said he had a bad knee and didn't want to get up out of his chair to go look at the car. I recommended that he send his best assistant to look at the car and make an assessment, given that we had spent the time, half hour - 45 minutes to drive it up there through traffic. He started saying how he hates (all) doctors, and doctors don't deserve to be treated well themselves (I couldn't figure out what he was talking about, I had never had any dealings with him previously).

He cursed, grumbled, hung up the phone on me saying that he himself would look at it. I didn't hear back from him that day, but my detail man says that he came storming out of the office cursing and ranting and physically pushed him to the side, causing him to stumble. the store's manager repeatedly cursed at "that cheap *&^% doctor".

the store's manager (despite his supposed "bad knee"), then got down (literally) on his own hands and knees and in theatrical fashion "begged" my detail man "Please let me give that "cheap *&^% doctor" a free paint job". He then was bowing and trying (theatrically) to kiss my guy's feet. My detail man was laughed at by workers working on the street nearby, and felt humiliated. the store's manager then told my guy to "right now get out of here".

The situation was ludicrous!!! My detail man called the local police afterwards and was shaken up physically and emotionally. He refuses to go back there and deal with the store's manager. Separately he has dealt with an assistant Carlos, from whom he bought touch up paint at separate price, some $40 or so. Additionally this touch up paint is not the color on the car. My detail man's assessment is that likely when they did the "Ambassador" paint job they significantly watered down the paint, thus the touch up paint is so much darker. This has caused additional problems because we have tried to fix some of the "bubbles" (of their poor paint job). These now looks like blemishes, given the different color of the touch up paint.

I called the national Maaco office and dealt with somebody in their service/customer relations department: Marilyn. We have had more than a half dozen telephone calls back and forth to try to mediate the situation. Ultimately we have not gotten very far. the store's manager made some excuses about his mother's having been in the hospital, as his reason for hating doctors. He says that he will repaint (only) the trunk. This is not adequate. I have already spent money to clearcoat the car (hoping to see some improvement in the mottled color effect, and to protect the paint job such as I have) and would have to do that all over again (at considerable expense).

There are problems at various parts of the car and the whole car needs to be repainted. I don't feel comfortable going back to his store and Maaco is not able to transfer any possible credit I might have at his store anywhere else. They refuse to go any further with this case. I think that the money I spent here should be rescinded, come back to me, so that I can put it towards a decent paying job somewhere else. I think also Maaco shouldn't intimate that the Ambassador is in fact a paint job; conversely they could name it something less important-sounding and more realistic such as the "blind man's special" (no offense to blind people of course).

I think that I have done due diligence here , trying to work through Maaco's own channels, and have taken far more abuse and disrespect than any man deserves, let alone somebody who innocently just wanted to have a simple paint job. Same goes for my detail man. I would like to close out this bad chapter and have my money refunded. I don't think that his behavior which borders on the criminal should be justified by a payment via Bank of America.

I can't, honestly, think of a less professional individual than the store's manager, and less professional actions than he brought about.